Both Henio Arcangeli Jr. and Kyung Soo "Kenny" Lee are new U.S. chiefs of two Asian brands and the third person in less than a year to fill his respective role. And neither one ever has run the U.S. arm of an automaker before.

Jeff Conrad, a 35-year veteran at American Honda, is retiring as senior vice president of the company's automobile division on Dec. 1. He will be replaced by an outsider, Henio Arcangeli Jr., former president of Yanmar North America.